File folders are well known. Specifically, such folders at a minimum include front and rear folder sides and are hinged--typically by a bent paper or cloth hinge--between the front and rear folder sides. It is common for files to have multiple leaves between the front and rear folder sides.
The file folders typically have an information tab protruding upwardly from either the front or rear folder side. This tab is a permanent extension of one of the folder sides and protrudes above the normal height of the remainder of the file. When the files are stacked with their respective contents, side by side, the tabs display identification and content information. The display of this information is above the height of the front and rear sides and any internal multiple leaves.
Files are typically rectilinear--either square or rectangular--as viewed perpendicular to one of their respective front and rear sides. Further, files are typically stacked and stowed serially on edge on side-by-side. In the normal storage regimen, similar files are stored on similar edges. Thus, where the front and rear sides are rectangular and folded along a major edge of the sides, the side-by-side files will be similarly stored. Give a complete shelf of such files, tabs protruding upwardly from sides containing the location and content information are permanently formed into the sides of the panel.
However, when tabs have permanent formation into the sides of the panel, normal file orientation on one or the other of the side edges is fixed. For example, where rectangular files are rested on a folding major side, typically the tab protrudes upward from the front or rear panel major side opposite the folding side.
Sometimes, however, it is desired that file be stowed on either the front or side edges. When this is the case, the protrusion of the tabs remains the same. As the tabs are integral with the front and side panels, their relative position with respect to the file folder remains unchanged. Thus if the file is designed to be stored with one major edge resting on a file retaining shelf, the file tab protrudes upwardly from the opposite major edge. When the same file is stored by resting on a minor edge, the file tab still protrudes from the major edge--whether or not the tab can be conveniently located. Thus, where change of file storage orientation is undertaken, normal files must be completely replaced.